LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1301, 2 December 1911, Page 6

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

The postal authorities atlvisA tlint tho s.s. Mahono, which loft Sydney at 3 p.m on November 23 for Auckland, has on joard an Australian mail, also an Eng. lish mail, via Suez, Tho Wellington portion is duo to arriro horo by Sain i niak train on Monday next, DMember 1, To-day is Ambulnnco Saturday, and those who .would help along* tho good work carried on beneath tho symbolic red cross banner will hnvo ample opportunity of doing so as they tako their walks abroad. A number of young ladies have consented to exert their cliarms to wheedlo tho reluctant shilling out of tho men, and the retiring sixpence from (ho ladies. Some folk only havo a hazy idea as to what purposes tho Ambulance funds are devoted. Here they are: (1) Quarters' fund, for providing permanent establishment of headquarters for ambulance work, including housing of ambulance vehicles, and _ accommodation for the nurses of tho sick poor; (2) brigado fund, for providing equipment, and generally extending the pi-actical public work of divisions of tho brigado; (3) nursing emergency _ fund, for providing comforts and necessities for tho eick poor in urgent cases; (t) general ambnlanco fund, to provido for general expenses of the ambulance _ work of tho centre, and upkeep of, appliances, etc. Bach donor of ono u'li?ff tHII bo presented with a badge, which on being worn conspicuously will act like a charm in fending off further worry for the rest of tho day. In tho salaries earned in New Zealand by professional men, there still remains, said Principal Gray to the Training College) students at tho breaking-up function yesterday, very much to bo desired. A university professor should bo | paid certainly not less than J!1000. Contrasting tho general conditions of lifo under which the ordinary labourer and tho university professor existed, the labourer at £3 a week was, bv comparison, better oIF tlinn tho professor who was getting JCTOO a year. Ho cilcd tho caso of tho Government Meteorologist, whoso work was of immense valuo to tho country—to farmers and shipping especially—and who received something liko ,£4OO a year for sorviccs which were commonsurately worth .£2OOO a year in salary. A trained teacher, certificated, had to begin in a back-country school at a beggarly .£9O a year. In his opinion, ho should begin with not less than 4!120 a year. (Applause,) A petition was receivod by tho Council of the Now Zealand Institute of Surveyors at its mooting yesterday from a number of members of tho Auckland branch, urging upon tho Primo Minister and Native Minister tho desirableness of largely increasing tho number of Native Laud Court Judges. Tha council hiu decided to forward the uotitioA to the Prime Mini star. i

Not long ago Dr. .1. M. Warren, M.A., of Marlon, imported i,<wm badge', for the iiiemliers of the local branch ol the Uver-

M«IS Club, lis organiser of lliat, body, and asked Mi'. Xewm/in, .M.l'., In ><i> t|,e -Minister of Customs le Hie remit-sion of duly on llio Tlift Minister in reply slal/'d;—"l am ii-wrtilining what the legal postilion of the inatler is, and will eommiiiiiealo with you again," I'll is letter, daled November !i, was followed on vemlKir K by a further loiter, which read"Sir,—With furl her relerenc; to your letter of I Jin 2ftlh nil.., enclviini' a protest from Dr. .(. M. Warren, of Marlon, against payment of duly on badges for tho Overyjas Club, f regret now t/j have to inform yon that, thero is no means by which the-e badges, wliich consist (if stud", brooch pins, charms, and tiepins, could be nduiiltc'l free of duty. Vours faithfully, J!. M'Kenzie."

In the Supreme Court this morning th<» Chief ,Justice (.Sir Jtolierf. Stout) will pass (•enlenee on Alfred Arthur Jleudertxin, who on Wednesday last pleaded guilty to n charge of breaking and entering and thelt at Karaka JJav.

In tho opinion of Professor T. A. Hunter, of Victoria College, tho teachers 1 training colleges in..Now Zealand should bo regarded by educationists, Uiacheni, and students as a t laboratory of pedagogic rosearch. Education, ho observed to the students at tho Training College yesterday at tho breaking-up function, was still confronted with unsolved problems. Under such favourable conditions as obtained in such an institution as the •teachers' Training College, with every opportunity and facility for the special investigation of problems in education, Isew Zealand, ho should be in a position to contribute to pedagogic thought and literature important observations and deductions in this very in(eri'stiiijf and complex field of scientific research.

iu ™.ry, pleasant evening was spent at the Missions to Seamen Institution last night, when a reunion of workers was held. Thero were present a number of bazaar worker-; and others who have boon associated with the mission for a considerable time. Mr. G. W. Barltrop prosided. Among those who attended was Mrs. M. A. Williams, the donor of tho mis-sion building.

I'or years past tho disparity between the number of young men coming forward for tho teaching profession aa compared with the number of young women has offered a striking commentary upon the reluctance of the sterner sex to look to that profession as a field for their life's worn. There arc now, according to statistical evidence put forward by Principal Gray in his address to the Training College students, at the breaking-up ceremony yesterday, indications of a change of attitude on the part of the young men of New Zealand—at all events of tho middlo University district—towards the vocation of teaching. During the past year, said Mr. Gray, the men students at the college numbered 31, and tho women students (IS. Ho was looking forward to tho day when this division would be perfectly balanced—so to SO. But he did not think that even the condition which had now been reachcd would hold unless thero was consummated a material improvement in the general condition of . the teacher.

At a meeting of the Council of tho New Zealand Institute of Surveyors, held yesterday, there wore present: Messrs. T. Humphries (president), Jas. M'Kcnow, H. Sladden, M. C. Smith, and J. W. Davis. Tho. local committee at Auckland was constituted as follows:—Chairman, Mr. H. M. Wilson; secretary, Mr. T. MTarlane; members, Messrs. J. W. Harrison, R. C. Jordan, G. A. Jackson, J. Dawson, I'. Chambers, A. L. Foster, T. A. Rich, and P. Ward. Mr. M. C. Smith was appointed chairman of the Wellington local eommittoe. Messrs. 1). R. Young, J. Edie, J. P. Larkin, R. E, Irv L U. R. Hunt, G. A. Martin, and, as student, J. 13. Anderson, were elected to membership.